Improvements in computing technologies have changed the way people accomplish various tasks. For example, a resident of Long Island, N.Y. may plan a road trip to visit Washington, D.C. Traditional techniques would require the tourist, who is unfamiliar with the details of the trip, to obtain printed materials, such as a map, paper book, or travel guide in order to chart out the trip. Printed materials are frequently outdated, however, and careful planning may be frustrated by construction, closed roadways and the like.
Additional techniques have since been developed in an effort to mitigate the short-comings associated with printed travel guides. Global Positioning System (GPS) navigational devices enable a user to obtain information about points of interest with accompanying directions. Geo-tagging of photographs and videos, and presenting the photographs and videos on an accompanying map has enabled users to share their experiences with one another regarding points of interest. For example, online sharing services like Flickr.com, locr.com, and twango.com provide opportunities to view a photo on a map representative of where the photo was taken. Also Lonely Planet has launched a lonelyplanet.tv service, where users can upload their travel videos and see them placed on a map. All of these techniques/devices have enhanced the state of the art in comparison to the aforementioned use of traditional print materials, but these techniques/devices have their own deficiencies. The amount of information available to a user is often expansive, and the user often has to undertake a time-consuming search process to pin-point the information that is of greatest interest.
For example, in relation to the preceding example, the tourist from New York may have heard through a friend that, in close proximity to Washington, D.C., inventors bring their inventions to be reviewed and evaluated for patentability. The tourist may have an interest in visiting the location referred to by his friend, but may be unaware that the location referred to is the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). If the tourist's friend is not available to discuss the matter, the tourist will have to undertake a time-consuming search (e.g., reading articles, blogs, web-postings and the like) to pin-point the PTO as a place of interest. Thereafter, in order to visit the PTO, the tourist will need to learn where the PTO is located. The tourist, however, may acquire information via a web search directing him to the previous location of the PTO, Crystal City, Va., as opposed to the PTO's current location in Alexandria, Va.
Moreover, the tourist may have an interest in airplanes, having viewed an airplane stunt show five years ago. Thus, the tourist may have an interest in visiting the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum while visiting Washington, D.C. The tourist, however, might not even be aware that such an exhibit exists, or that there exists an Air & Space Museum annex near Dulles International Airport, and might miss out on the opportunity to visit it based on his lack of knowledge.